Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
:For other uses, see the disambiguation page Final Frontier. Adventure and Imagination Will Meet at the Final Frontier A distress call to a broken, impoverished world brings Captain James T. Kirk and the malfunctioning Starship Enterprise-A face-to-face with Sybok, the half-brother of Spock. Having rejected logic, Sybok seeks to use the Enterprise-A to travel to the center of the galaxy on a quest for the mythical planet Sha-Ka-Ree, in hopes of finding God. Beliefs are called into question as Kirk, Spock and McCoy must put an end to Sybok's quest. Summary Three ambassadors from the Federation, Romulan Empire, and Klingon Empire meet alone in Paradise City on the planet Nimbus III for a private conference. They discuss the planet itself, which had been billed as "The Planet of Galactic Peace" at its founding years before, but has rapidly devolved to a barren wasteland rife with corruption and debauchery. Their meeting is interrupted when the city-compound is overrun by fanatic followers of Sybok, a Vulcan with an unusually emotional demeanor, and a seemingly supernatural ability to cleanse his followers of emotional "pain." Sybok informs the ambassadors that they are his hostages. His intentions at first are unclear. Meanwhile, newly-demoted Captain Kirk is wrapping up a shore leave with Spock and McCoy spent in Yosemite National Park. Around the campfire, the three discuss their time together and philosophize about life and death. Their leave is interrupted when the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)|new Enterprise]] is summoned by Starfleet to visit Nimbus III and assess the hostage situation. Despite Kirk's and Scotty's protestations that the ship is unready to fly, the Enterprise departs for the planet. Spock replays the hostage tape that Sybok has sent to the Federation, and zooms in on Sybok's face. Kirk notices Spock's mood, and observes: "You look like you've just seen a ghost". Spock replies, "Perhaps I have". He recounts for Kirk and McCoy a brief history of Sybok, a gifted Vulcan who at a young age broke with Vulcan tradition and decided that emotion, not logic, was the key to self-knowledge. According to Spock, Sybok was banished from Vulcan when he attempted to lure other Vulcans to his worldview. Elsewhere, Klaa, a brash young Klingon Bird-of-Prey captain, is assigned by the Klingon Empire to visit Nimbus III as well. Knowing that the Federation will be responding to the threat as well, Klaa displays excitement at the prospect of engaging a Federation starship, and orders his vessel toward Nimbus III. The Enterprise arrives first at Nimbus III and Kirk wastes no time leading a rescue party to the planet's surface via shuttlecraft for a ground assault on Paradise City. The attack seems at first successful, as the team steals some horses and rides in the gates of the city, initiating a firefight. However Kirk is shocked when the hostages turn on him and deliver him over to Sybok. As Sybok's followers cheer their victory, Sybok suddenly recognizes Spock among the group, and reacts joyfully; however Spock is not cheered by the apparent reunion, and stands dutifully by his captain. Sybok then reveals his next move; he intends to seize the USS Enterprise itself. Kirk and company find themselves aboard the shuttlecraft with Sybok and an armed contingent of followers, flying towards the Enterprise, but their approach is interrupted by the approach of the Klingon ship, which immediately moves to attack the Enterprise. Though the Enterprise can't dock a shuttlecraft with the shields up, Kirk improvises a plan to land the craft and immediately send the ship to warp; this plan succeeds, and the shuttlecraft crashes full-speed into the shuttle bay as the Enterprise zips away from the Klingons. Kirk scuffles briefly with Sybok, and Spock grabs a weapon and has Sybok at gunpoint. To Kirk's surprise, however, Spock refuses to shoot him, and they are taken hostage and thrown with McCoy into a holding cell. At this point Spock reveals his connection to Sybok: they are half-brothers. Sybok now has complete control of the ship, and reveals to the crew his overall plan: to steer the Enterprise into the center of the galaxy in the expectation of finding Sha Ka Ree, the mythical Vulcan "heaven," and the home of God. Kirk immediately declares this plan to be lunacy, since no ship or probe has ever returned from a trip to the galactic core, and the Enterprise will likely fare no differently. With the help of Scotty, the three senior officers escape from the holding cell, and they use Spock's levitation boots to elude Sybok's followers and make it to the emergency transmitter, hoping to notify Starfleet of their predicament. However Sybok beats them there, and asks for a fair chance to relieve them of their "pain," as he has been able to do for an increasing number of the Enterprise's crew. The officers agree to Sybok's demonstration. Sybok then speaks to Spock and McCoy in turn, causing each of them to relive hurtful experiences in their past. They are each impacted by the experiences, but Kirk refuses the same treatment, protesting that he needs his pain in order to live his life. His objection quickly proves moot, however, as the Enterprise arrives at the galactic core's boundary and encounters a strange-looking planet never before seen. Sybok and many of his followers believe they have found heaven, and Sybok takes a shuttle down to the planet's surface with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. There they encounter a mystical being who introduces himself as God, and asks them to bring their starship closer to him so that he can "join" with it. Though Sybok is convinced, Kirk immediately smells a rat: "Excuse me, what does God need with a starship?" The being is enraged at Kirk's refusal to cooperate, and Sybok wrestles with it while the Enterprise officers flee the site and race back to the shuttle. Unable to take off, Kirk orders Spock and McCoy beamed back to the Enterprise, and is left alone with the being. Though he is trapped by it, Klaa's Bird-of-Prey suddenly appears and destroys the being with a single shot. Kirk is then beamed up to safety. The Klingon ambassador orders Klaa to apologize for his aggression, and both ships turn back toward home. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy again speak broadly about God, life, and death; Kirk posits, "I don't think he's out there; I think he's in here - the human heart." The film concludes with the three friends back around the campfire, singing "Row Row Row Your Boat" in a round. Memorable Quotes "Greetings, Captain." "Spock. What are you doing here?" "I have been monitoring your progress." "I'm flattered. Twelve hundred points of interest in Yosemite and you pick me." "I regret to inform you that the record for free climbing El Capitan is in no danger of being broken." "I'm not trying to break any records, Spock. I'm doing this because I enjoy it. Not to mention the most important reason for climbing a mountain." "And that is?" "Because it's there." "Captain, I do not think you realize the gravity of your situation." "On the contrary, gravity is foremost on my mind..." : - Kirk and Spock "Concentration is vital. You must be one with the rock." "Spock, I appreciate your concern, but if you don't stop distracting me, I'm liable to be one with the--'' (Kirk slips off the rock face) GROUND!!!!!!" : - Spock and Kirk, as Kirk is trying to climb El Capitan. "Borgus frat! 'Let's see what she's got' said the captain. And then we found out, didn't we?" : - Scotty, complaining about the shape of the Enterprise "Re-re-red Alert!" "I just fixed that damn thing!" : - Scotty, commenting on the computer's stutter "Commander Sulu come in, please." "I don't believe this. Commander Sulu here." "Bad news gentlemen, shore leave's been canceled." "Rescued at last!" "Return to pre-arranged coordinates for pickup." "If you tell her we're lost, we'll never live it down." "Is there a problem, gentlemen?" "Uh, yes. We've been caught in a... we've been caught in a blizzard." (Chekov blows into the communicator)"And we can't see a thing. Request you direct us to the coordinates." "My visual says sunny skies and 70 degrees." "Sulu, look. The sun's come out. It's a miracle!" "Don't worry boys, your secret's safe with me. I'll send a shuttle to pick you up." "Uhura, I owe you one. Sulu out." : - Uhura, Sulu and Chekov "I've always known I'll die alone." "Well, I'll call Valhalla and have them reserve a room for you." : - Kirk and McCoy "Lev-lev-level?" "Bridge... I hope." : - Kirk responding to the turbolift's voice malfunction "I could use a shower." (a beat) "Yes." : - Kirk and Spock in the turbolift. "GO CLIMB A ROCK" : - Kirk's Shirt "What's the matter, Jim?" "I miss my old chair." : - McCoy and Kirk, after Kirk discovers that the command chair isn't bolted to the floor correctly "Hello, boys. I've always wanted to play to a captive audience." : - Uhura "Spock!" "Yes, Captain?" "Be one with the horse!" "Yes, Captain!" : - Kirk and Spock, riding to Paradise City "What ar' ya standing around for? Don't ya know a jailbreak when you see one?" : - Scotty after rescuing Kirk, Bones and Spock from the brig. "Oh, there's nothing amazing about it. I know this ship like the back of my hand..." (Scotty proceeds to run into a bulkhead, knocking himself unconscious) : - Scotty (Kirk and McCoy, with Spock on his rocket boots, begin to float down to the ground in the turbolift shaft] "It appears we're too heavy." "Must be all those marsh melons." : - Spock and Kirk "Excuse me... Excuse me... I'd just like to ask a question. What does God need with a starship?" : - Kirk "I seek proof." "Jim, you don't ask the Almighty for his I.D.!" "Then here is the proof you seek." ("God" hits Kirk with a bolt of lightning) : - Kirk, McCoy, and "God" "Stop! The god of Sha Ka Ree would not do this!" "Sha Ka Ree?! A vision you created. An eternity I've been imprisoned in this place. The ship. I must have the ship. Now give me what I want." : - Sybok and "God" "What have I done?" "Kirk to ''Enterprise, listen carefully."'' "Spock," "Sybok," "This is my doing. This is my arrogance, my vanity." "Sybok, we must..." "No! No, you must save yourselves. Forgive me, brother. Forgive me." (Sybok raises his hand in the Vulcan salute and Spock raises his own hand to Sybok's) : - Sybok, Kirk, and Spock "I couldn't help but notice your pain." "My pain?" "It runs deep. Share it with me!" : - Sybok and "God" before they fight. "I... thought I was gonna die." "Not possible. You were never alone." (Kirk is about to hug Spock) "Please, Captain... Not in front of the Klingons." : - Kirk and Spock Background Information *''Star Trek V'' has provoked strong controversy among fans, many of whom consider this movie to be the weakest of the Trek films. In fact, Gene Roddenberry has stated that certain plot elements were "apocryphal," although it is not known exactly which elements he was referring to (though some believe he was referring to the notion of Mr. Spock having a brother). Subsequent Star Trek writers have avoided referencing events from the movie for the most part. One of the rare exceptions is the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Fusion", which features a group of Vulcans who express their emotions freely, an element seen in this film in the form of Sybok. Next Generation writer Joe Menosky has also suggested that the "God" alien in this film is a renegade from the Cytherians in TNG: "The Nth Degree". Many fans consider J.M. Dillard's novelization of the film to be superior to the film itself, due to the expanded information it provides for many of the characters, most notably the captive diplomats and Sybok himself. * One apocryphal element might be the amount of time it took to reach the galactic center. Kirk went from Earth to the center of the galaxy in a matter of days in this movie, whereas it was estimated that USS Voyager would take 70 years to cross the galaxy, despite being a much faster ship. Fan speculations have ranged from Sybok knowing where a wormhole was that could get them to the center of the galaxy to that the ship didn't actually make the center of the galaxy, but just somewhere in the central area because it's now known that there's a supermassive black hole at the exact center of the galaxy. * The Star Trek V novelization also referenced and showed Sybok showing the crew how to radically adjust the deflector shields in order to be able to pass through the extreme radiation environment of the Great Barrier. * The film was the "winner" of the 1990 Razzie awards for "Worst Picture," "Worst Actor" (Shatner), and "Worst Director" (Shatner). It also received nominations for "Worst Picture of the Decade," "Worst Supporting Actor" (Kelley), "Worst Screenplay" (Loughery, Shatner, and Bennett). In 2006, former ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' co-stars and writers Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy mocked the film in a downloadable audio commentary track for Nelson's RiffTrax service. * Because of its failure at the U.S. box office, in some countries this film was not distributed in the theaters, but only on VHS. * Some of the special effects in this movie are markedly different than those featured in previous Star Trek films. Among other changes, photon torpedoes have a different design and color (the torpedo from the Enterprise was a slightly recolored reuse of V'Ger's 'Whiplash Bolt' from ) and a slightly different effect was used when going to warp speed. The release of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, however, marked a return the effect designs that characterized earlier Trek films. * William Shatner's first outline for this film was entitled An Act of Love. * The name "Sha Ka Ree" was taken from "Sean Connery", the actor Star Trek producers originally wanted to play Sybok. * After the campfire scene, Kirk, Spock and McCoy say "good-night" to each other in a way that is clearly a parody of the "good-night" in the television show "The Waltons". * In the original script, Kirk was attacked by ten large "rockmen" emerging from the rockfaces of Sha-Ka-Ree. Unfortunately, with an extremely limited budget (which was responsible for other "high budget" items being removed from the final script, as well as for the use of cheaper effects for the space scenes), only one animatronic "rockman" was created. The single rockman was filmed attacking Kirk, but the scene was thought too poor to include in the film, although an extremely brief (a few frames) glimpse of the creature occurs in the final print during the scene where "God" fires energy blasts at Captain Kirk. Some test footage of the creature is available in the Special Edition two-disc DVD release. The idea did make it to theaters in the Star Trek parody ''Galaxy Quest''. * Closeups of the El Capitan climbing scenes were filmed on a fake wall made of fiberglass. The real mountain can be seen at distance. * Closeups of Kirk's fall were actually shot horizontally, then flipped so that they appeared vertical. * Several deleted scenes are available on the Special Edition DVD, including one of Sulu and Chekov visiting the Mount Rushmore monument, with the added face of an African-American woman. * As had been the case with , this film sports a rare instance of Trek product placement. Kirk and Spock wear Levi's blue jeans in the campfire scene, and Levi Strauss & Company gets a credit at the end of the film. * In another product tie-in, this time with Kraft "Jet-Puffed" marshmallows, Kraft Co. sold replicas of the marshmallow dispenser that Spock used, via mail-order, in the summer of 1989. * It's interesting to note that Spock makes an uncharacteristic mistake when he calls "marshmallows" by the name "marsh melons". The novelization shows that McCoy, knowing Spock would want to study what the ship had in the library computer about camping out before going out, paid a computer tech to change all references in the Enterprise computer about marshmallows to "marsh melons." The novel also includes characterizations of McCoy's and Kirk's reactions and McCoy having a silent laugh at Spock's error. In the final picture, McCoy simply stumbles over the pronunciation to continue the joke. Later, in the levitation boots scene on the Enterprise (mentioned below), Kirk again mentions "marsh melons", which some have thought to be the mistake, but is evidence he also recognized Spock's error. When they return to the camp site at the end of the novel, Spock has since then detected McCoy's activity and has had his misinformation corrected. * The entire movie was filmed on such a tight schedule that many of the shots were set up in matter of minutes, instead of hours. * The cloak with the numerous medals that Ambassador Korrd wore would appear again in Star Trek: The Next Generation as the cloak worn by the Klingon chancellor. The first chancellor to be seen, K'mpec (who first appeared in TNG: "Sins of the Father"), was also played by Charles Cooper. * One of Kirk's famous lines in this film is that he "will die alone." In the movie Star Trek Generations, Kirk dies after emerging from the Nexus in the 24th century. Although he dies apart from his closest friends (Spock and McCoy), Jean Luc Picard is with him at his passing. * Near the end of the film when Spock mentions that he lost his brother, Sybok, Kirk retorts, "Yes. I lost a brother once. I was lucky I got him back." While Kirk's biological brother, George Samuel Kirk, died in TOS: "Operation -- Annihilate!", he was clearly making a reference to Spock, who died in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and resurrected in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. (However, Spock and McCoy look visibly surprised when Kirk mentions having lost a brother, creating a potential continuity error as both were present when George died) This is the second time that Kirk refers to Spock as his "brother". The first time occurred in TOS: "Whom Gods Destroy." The Star Trek V comic adaptation had Kirk say "I've lost two brothers, but I was lucky to get one of them back." * After the bird-of-prey destroys "God", Kirk says "So, it's me you want, you Klingon bastards?"; a reference to a scene in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock where Kirk calls them the same thing after Kruge kills his son, David Marcus. * The Enterprise-A corridors are from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Except for the turbo-lift, they were not changed for the movie. * In the levitation boots scene on the Enterprise, where Spock, McCoy, and Kirk fly up the turbo-shaft, the deck numbers are seen going higher as they rise through the ship, in contrast to all other starships ever seen on screen, which have the highest deck number on the lowest actual deck. * This is the first Star Trek movie not to be nominated for a Hugo Award for "Best Dramatic Presentation". * In an interview for the book "Captains' Logs", Harve Bennett blamed the movie's failure on Star Trek: The Next Generation. * The Enterprise-A bridge is mostly a new set, except for the turbolifts, Sulu and Chekov's helm console, the handrails, and some of the platforms on which the portions of the bridge stood. According to the Collector's Edition DVD Text commentary, a new bridge set was necessary due to the original movie bridge set being mostly damaged by a sudden windstorm while in temporary storage at the Paramount studio parking lot, and only those few pieces used on the Enterprise-A bridge were salvaged from the original set. * The rock climbing costume worn by Shatner was auctioned off in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction (item #3055). The costume had "Boreal"-brand shoes. * Nichelle Nichols, an accomplished singer and dancer, provided an authentic performance of the "fan dance" routine in this film; she was outraged when her vocals in the scene were later overdubbed in editing without her approval. * A Bandai NES action game was slated to be released in 1989 along with the movie. The game was cancelled following the failure of the film at the box office. A prototype has surfaced and is circling the net as a ROM. It is notable for it's many basic spelling errors (example: at one point Scotty is named "Scotto") and lack of an ending (the game may have been incomplete at the time it was scrapped). * This film marked the return of Jerry Goldsmith to the Star Trek franchise. He would return again to compose the music for , , and and compose the theme for Star Trek: Voyager. An attempt was made to bring Goldsmith on to compose for after James Horner turned it down. However, Goldsmith also refused, sighting the poor results of Final Frontier. Merchandise gallery Image:Star Trek V Soundtrack.jpg|Soundtrack Image:ST5 The Final Frontier novel.jpg|Novelization Image:St5 comic.jpg|Comic book adaptation Image:Captain's Log STV.jpg|''Captain's Log: William Shatner's Personal Account of the Making of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier'' Image:Final Frontier UK VHS original cover.jpg|Original UK VHS release (VHR 2374) Image:Final Frontier 1998 UK VHS cover.jpg|1998 UK VHS rerelease Image:Star Trek V The Final Frontier Special Edition DVD cover-Region 1.jpg|Region 1 Special Edition DVD Image:Star Trek V The Final Frontier Special Edition DVD cover-Region 2.jpg|Region 2 Special Edition DVD Links and References Cast *William Shatner as James T. Kirk *Leonard Nimoy as Spock *DeForest Kelley as Leonard McCoy *James Doohan as Montgomery Scott *Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov *Nichelle Nichols as Uhura *George Takei as Hikaru Sulu *David Warner as St. John Talbot *Laurence Luckinbill as Sybok *Charles Cooper as General Korrd *Cynthia Gouw as Caithlin Dar *Todd Bryant as Captain Klaa *Spice Williams as Vixis *Rex Holman as J'onn *George Murdock as "God" *Jonathan Simpson as young Sarek *Beverly Hart as a Vulcan High Priestess *Steve Susskind as Pitchman *Harve Bennett as Starfleet Chief of Staff *Cynthia Blaise as Amanda *Bill Quinn as McCoy's Father *Melanie Shatner as Yeoman Uncredited *Mike Smithson as Klingon helmsman *Rhoda Williams as alien vocals *Carey Scott as voice of a teenage Spock (deleted scene) Stunt performers *Don Pulford as stunt double for William Shatner *Gregory J. Barnett as stunt double for Leonard Nimoy *Ken Bates as stunt double for William Shatner (high fall), Highest Descender Fall Recorded in the United States *David Burton *David Richard Ellis *Linda Fetters as Feline bar dancer *Bob Gaines as climbing double for William Shatner *James M. Halty as stunt double for George Takei *Freddie Hice as stunt double for DeForest Kelley *Thomas Huff as stunt double for DeForest Kelley *Joyce L. McNeal *Tom Morga as Starfleet field security crewman *Frank Orsatti *Air Randall *Bruce Wayne Randall *R.A. Rondell *Tom Wetterman *Scott Wilder *Dick Ziker Uncredited Stunt performers *Terry Jackson Crew *William Shatner - Director, Writer *Harve Bennett - Writer, Producer *David Loughery - Writer *Gene Roddenberry - Creator (Star Trek), Executive Producer, Executive Consultant *Ralph Winter - Executive Producer *Andrew Laszlo - Cinematographer *Herman Zimmerman - Production Designer *Peter Berger - Editor *Nilo Rodis-Jamero - Costume Designer, Art Director *Jerry Goldsmith - Composer *Mel Efros - Co-Producer, Unit Production Manager *Brooke Breton - Associate Producer *Bill Shepard - Casting Director *Douglas E. Wise - First Assistant Director *Burt "Skip" Burnam - Second Assistant Director *George Fortmuller - Second Assistant Director *Robert Carmichael - Second Unit Director *Glenn R. Wilder - Stunt Coordinator *Mike Edmondson - Special Effects Supervisor *Michael Wood - Special Effects Supervisor *John M. Dwyer - Set Decorator *David M. Ronne - Sound Mixer *Mark A. Mangini - Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Effects *Kurt V. Hulett - Property master *Christopher Gilman and his company "Global Effects, Inc." - Creator and provider of the cool suits (uncredited) References Andorian God; bath; brig; camping out; "Camptown Races"; commercial; Consul; Earth; El Capitan; ''Enterprise''-A, USS; ''Excelsior'', USS; galactic core; Galileo; God; Great Barrier; Great Horned Owl; Iowa; jet boots; kellicam; Klingons; Klingon Bird-of-Prey; marshmallow; Milky Way Galaxy; "Moon over Rigel VII"; Mount Rushmore National Memorial; Neutral Zone Treaty; Nimbus III; Nimbus system; Orbital shuttle; "Pack Up Your Troubles"; Paradise City; Paradise Inn; Pioneer 10; pool; Priority 7; Rigel VII; Romulans; Romulan ale; Romulan language; "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"; scotch whiskey; Sha Ka Ree; sing-along; Southern baked beans; Starfleet Com Net; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Galactic Memory Bank; Starfleet Operations; termite; waste extraction; Tennessee whiskey; type-6 shuttlecraft; Vulcan; Vulcans; Yosemite National Park Related Topics *Emotion *Suicide *Vulcan mythology Media * Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Special Edition) * ''Star Trek V: The Final Frontier'' (soundtrack) External links * * Final Frontier, The de:Star Trek V: Am Rande des Universums es:Star Trek V: The Final Frontier fr:Star Trek V: The Final Frontier nl:Star Trek V: The Final Frontier pl:Star Trek V: The Final Frontier sv:Star Trek V: The Final Frontier